The courts receive the first report on the swine fever investigation
A judge from Cerdanyola del Vallès will take charge of the case, which will be declared secret.
BarcelonaThe first police report on the investigation into the origin of the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak has arrived at the courts in Cerdanyola del Vallès. The judge assigned to the case will investigate whether the outbreak detected in Collserola constitutes an environmental crime, and the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) announced on Tuesday that the investigation will be conducted under seal. Although no formal case has yet been opened, the Cerdanyola Court of First Instance—the collegiate judicial body that replaced the former investigating courts following the organizational changes implemented by the law on judicial efficiency—has already decided that the case will be assigned to Judge Number 2 of this court. The next step, therefore, will be for this judge to register the reports from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police) and the Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) of the Civil Guard and open a judicial investigation.
The first legal steps to clarify the origin of the African swine fever outbreak in the area around Collserola Park come after the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Friday that it is investigating whether the swine fever outbreak originated in a laboratoryFurthermore, the Catalan Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, Òscar Ordeig, has reported that the Catalan government has asked the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) to also investigate the virus sequencing, in parallel with the work being carried out by the Ministry.
Laboratory Audit
The Generalitat has also commissioned an audit at the IRTA-CReSA laboratory. to find out if the ASF outbreak originated in any of the five animal research centers located within a 20-kilometer radius of the point where the infected wild boars were found. These five centers, including IRTA-CReSA itself, are under investigation After a report from the Animal Health Research Center (CISA-INIA), a European Union reference laboratory located in Valdeolmos (Madrid), concluded that the genome of the virus detected in the wild boars of Collserola is similar to the one that circulated in Georgia in 2007 and is commonly used in experimental studies and evaluation. Ordeig stated this Tuesday that his department has no knowledge of the legal proceedings, which are just beginning, although he offered the Generalitat's "full cooperation" to clarify the origin of the outbreak. "Everything that is being investigated will have our full cooperation when the time comes," said the minister, who also asked for prudence and to allow the security forces to do their work. "When appropriate, we will respond duly," he insisted.